Thursday, April 7, 2011

Wrong

What if I were wrong? What if all of the reasons we stayed apart were not really reasons at all, but fears with a facade of reason? What if I should have said yes? What if you hadn't let me go? What if I could have seen in darkness? What if I had stayed right there waiting for you, ever waiting for you?

"What if?"

When one says the words what if, the opportunity to seize is already gone. The chance to have, to hold, to love, to live... it is never to be again. Only God has the ability to hold the hands of time from ticking. But He lets them tick, tick, ever tick. Each tick is a moment, each moment a chance for change.

How often do we take a moment to step out of our reality and see life for what it really is? How often do we take a moment to see people as they really are, and not as the environment around them wishes them to be? How often do we take not just one moment, but several moments, to look deep within ourselves, and allow the true self to emerge?

I don't have a plethora of "What if?" moments in my life. But the ones that have happened are huge, at least to me. What is it they have taught me? And have I really learned? For the moment I say, "What if?", I have just taken a step, or many, backwards.

If we are not moving forward in life, we are moving back. Back to old habits that were hard to break, comfortable situations that gave place for complacency, and places and people that were in our past to stay there. This backwards direction does nothing for our growth and development in life. Learning from, growing from, and appreciating the past is appropriate. Not letting go and trying to rent a summer home there is not.

Living too much in the future doesn't really work, as well. Although I think it is a better choice than the past, it still overlooks the day-to-day moments, the here and now. Yes, prepare for the future. Do all that you can to be ready. But LIVE NOW.

The universal clock does not ever slow down or rewind. Once a moment is gone, it is really and truly gone, forever. Living now means today! What will I do today? This is the question that resonates within me. For if we never live today, and are in the past or the future, we will die before we even realize that we lived!

What if? What if? What if?

When the portal of opportunity is closed, it is really closed. Live now. Live today. Live for the future. But live today!

But what if this is the wrong choice? What if something better comes along? What if we can't afford it? Well, what if it is? What if it does? What if we can't?

If you never have a car, you will never have to worry about oil on your garage floor. But it would stink to have no wheels. If you never have horses, then your stable will always be clean. But then there would be no point in even building one. If you never dive in deep, you won't have to worry about getting your hair wet. But then you will only have an outsider's perspective on what is underneath the surface. Do you really want to miss out on the extreme beauty of the ocean floor? On being an actual beholder yourself, even a part of that beauty?

Beware the choice you make once illumination occurs. DO NOT BACK AWAY from a good thing! For it could very well be the BEST thing! But if you do nothing, or keep waiting for a diamond experience before you make your move, you will soon find yourself saying... "What if?"